Little Caesars Arena
Little Caesars Arena is a multi-purpose arena under construction in midtown Detroit. Construction began on April 24, 2015 following a formal groundbreaking ceremony on September 25, 2014. Scheduled to open in September 2017, the arena, which will cost $732.6 million to construct, will succeed both Joe Louis Arena and The Palace of Auburn Hills as the homes of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), respectively. The arena will feature a unique, glass-roofed concourse connecting it to offices and shops surrounding it. It will anchor a new $1.2 billion sports and entertainment district in and around downtown Detroit that will include mixed-use neighborhoods with new residential and retail outlets located around the Cass Corridor, Ford Field and Comerica Park. With the announcement that the Pistons would also move to the arena, it will mark the first time that the Pistons have played regularly in Detroit since 1978. Design Little Caesars Arena was designed by HOK, and features a unique "deconstructed" layout. Buildings housing retail outlets, the arena's box office, and the offices of the Red Wings will be built outside the arena, but a glass roof will be erected between the buildings and the arena itself. The roof will form an indoor "street" that will serve as the arena's concourse. The concourse will remain open year-round, even if an event is not occurring inside the arena, allowing it to also be used as a venue of its own. There will also be an outdoor plaza with a large video display. The eight-story arena will be built as a bowl, with its floor below street level, and projected seating capacities of 20,000 for ice hockey and 21,000 for basketball. The bowl will also feature a "gondola" seating level suspended above the stands. The exterior of the bowl structure will be capable of displaying video projections. Also planned is a practice ice rink inside the arena, which in addition to serving as the practice and training facility of the Red Wings, it will be the home of both Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club and Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League as well. The Bell Centre in Montreal has been cited to be one of the biggest influences of the arena's design. Christopher Ilitch described the arena's design as being "revolutionary", and believes that it may influence future arena designs in other cities. History Rumors and announcement and Ford Field (pictured) will be incorporated into a "Wildcat Corner" district near the new arena.]] It was reported in May 2012 that the Red Wings had hired HKS, Inc. and NBBJ to design a new arena for the team, which would replace the 33-year-old Joe Louis Arena as their home ice. The new arena will be owned by the city's Downtown Development Authority and its land will be leased to Olympia Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Red Wings' parent company, Ilitch Holdings, rent free for a long term. Olympia will have full operational control of the arena, an arrangement similar to the one Olympia had with the city-owned Joe Louis Arena. Sales of game tickets, parking, concessions, souvenirs, and any potential naming rights deals will not be subject to revenue sharing with the City of Detroit as they are with Joe Louis Arena. The city earned an average of $7 million per year through these revenue sharing agreements. Olympia Entertainment officially announced in December 2012 its intention to develop a new district in downtown Detroit composed of offices, residential facilities, and "a new state-of-the-art, multi-purpose events center", with an estimated cost of $650 million. In June 2013, the Downtown Development Authority officially announced the location of the new Detroit Red Wings arena and entertainment district. On July 24, 2013, the Michigan Strategic Fund approved the Downtown Development Authority's request for $650 million in funding. Christopher Ilitch unveiled renderings of the new arena and entertainment district on July 20, 2014, which will be known as The District Detroit. He explained that the project's goal was to "build out a sports and entertainment district that is world-class and rivals anything in the country, perhaps the world." The district, which will complement the QLINE streetcar, will primarily be built on vacant land near the Cass Corridor along Woodward Avenue, and will incorporate five distinct neighborhoods with new residential and apartment units and European-influenced designs. The district will also feature a hotel, new restaurants, and new retail outlets. Olympia Development will fund the refurbishment of public infrastructure around the arena district, such as street lighting, sidewalks, and paving. One of the neighborhoods, referred to by Ilitch as "Wildcat Corner", will incorporate the area occupied by the Tigers and Lions' home venues of Comerica Park and Ford Field, respectively, and replace several parking lots with new apartment complexes featuring street-level retail outlets. Ilitch emphasized the impact of the arena district project would have on Detroit's economy: the new facilities will result in 1,000 new jobs in the city, and 8,300 new jobs will be created for the construction process—Olympia Developments has committed to having 51% of the construction jobs filled by residents of Detroit. Additionally, two Michigan-based contractors will be among those working on the arena, and 80% of the materials used in the construction of the arena will also be sourced from Michigan-based companies when possible. Construction A formal groundbreaking ceremony was held at the arena site on September 25, 2014. The arena is scheduled to be completed by September 2017. Following the completion of the new arena, Joe Louis Arena will be demolished, and its former site will be redeveloped into a hotel and retail complex. The sale of the Joe Louis Arena site comes as part of a bankruptcy settlement between the Financial Guaranty Insurance Company and the city of Detroit. Mass excavation at the arena site began on April 24, 2015, a few days after Detroit City Council approved a zoning change, allowing vertical construction to officially commence. The Detroit Historic District Commission approved the demolition of the Park Avenue Hotel on June 10, 2015 to make room for what will be the arena's loading dock. Olympia Development claimed that the Park Avenue Hotel stood in a high-security area. A demolition permit was issued on June 22, 2015. Detroit-based Adamo Demolition was the contractor listed on the permit. Despite protests, the building was imploded on July 11, 2015. On August 30, 2015, Olympia Entertainment announced that an estimated 488,000 cubic yards of soil had been excavated in recent months for the below-grade bowl, and hundreds of deep pier foundations were being drilled and filled with concrete through September. The steel frame of the arena began to go up in late fall. Construction of the ice surface began on January 5, 2017. On February 16, 2017, various construction changes began inside the arena in order to accommodate the Detroit Pistons. Construction of the ice rink began on March 8, 2017. Pistons move In late October 2016, it was reported that the Detroit Pistons were considering a move from The Palace of Auburn Hills to Little Caesars Arena as soon as the 2017–18 season, pending league and city approval. Pistons owner Tom Gores, Palace Sports & Entertainment vice chairman Arn Tellum, and Olympia Entertainment had been in negotiations over a partnership since the summer of 2015, with talks intensifying just as the Pistons were set to open their 2016–17 season; the terms may also include a possible merger between Olympia and the Pistons' holding company Palace Sports & Entertainment. The team also sought land to construct a new headquarters and practice facility within the vicinity of the arena. On November 22, 2016, it was officially announced that the Pistons would move to Little Caesars Arena starting with the 2017–18 season. With the agreement, it will mark the first time since 1974 that all four major sports teams have played in the city limits on a regular basis, and the first time since 1978 that the Pistons have played in the city of Detroit on a regular basis. Budget It was originally announced that Little Caesars Arena would cost $450 million to construct, on top of an additional $200 million for constructing the new district. $285 million of the total $650 million cost would be public funds, with $365.5 million in private funding. City officials revealed on November 7, 2016 that the cost of the new arena had risen by $105 million. The increases in cost was credited to routine price increases for materials and other changes to the arena since the previous estimate. Naming rights On February 11, 2016, it was reported that a local businessman had sold the domain name "littlecaesarsarena.com" three weeks earlier to an international brokerage firm for "five figures", which suggested that Little Caesars, a pizza chain also owned by the Ilitch family, had acquired the naming rights to the new arena. Olympia Entertainment officially announced on April 28, 2016 that the venue would be known as Little Caesars Arena. It was also revealed that a large Little Caesars logo would be displayed on the arena's roof; the previous plan for the LED roof was dismissed as being a "placeholder". Chris Ilitch defended the decision of not selling the naming rights to a third-party company, arguing that it was meant to reflect Little Caesars' position as a "legacy business" of the Ilitch family. The announcement was poorly-received. Prior to the unveiling of the official name, some fans suggested to The Detroit News that the arena should have been named after Gordie Howe. Following Howe's death on June 10, 2016, an online petition began to circulate requesting that Little Caesars Arena be renamed in honor of the former Red Wings player. Scheduled events Sports In addition to becoming the new home arena for the Red Wings and Pistons, Little Caesars Arena has either already been booked or is a contender for many other sporting events. Ice hockey Olympia Entertainment CEO Tom Wilson described an intent for Little Caesars Arena to be an "epicenter" for hockey, prospecting it as a site for events and tournaments at the college and junior levels such as the IIHF World Junior Championship and the Memorial Cup. Wilson also stated its commitment to continue hosting the annual collegiate Great Lakes Invitational at Little Caesars Arena, provided the universities involved maintain their desire to participate. The Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament currently rotates in location between the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota (2014 and 2016) and Joe Louis Arena in Detroit (2015 and 2017); on the idea of hosting further editions at Little Caesars Arena, Wilson stated that "we'd love to host it every year, but I'm not sure that's in the cards. It's good for us, it's good for everybody here in Detroit, but it's also great for the conference." College basketball In November 2014, it was announced that first and second round games during the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament would be held at Little Caesars Arena, hosted by the University of Detroit Mercy. Although the nearby Palace of Auburn Hills hosted preliminary rounds of the Tournament in 2013, this will be the Tournament's first visit to Detroit since the city hosted the 2009 Final Four at Ford Field. Little Caesars Arena will host the Horizon League's men's and women's basketball tournaments beginning in 2018. Detroit began hosting the men's tournament at Joe Louis Arena in 2016 under a 5-year deal, and the women's tournament in 2017. Concerts References External links * Construction Web Cam Category:ArenasCategory:Venues opened in 2017 Category:National Basketball Association arenas Category:Venues in Detroit, MichiganCategory:Venues in MichiganCategory:Detroit Pistons arenas